BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Application of 

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED 

For exemption authority pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 

§ 40109 (U.S.-Europe) 

Docket DOT-OST-2012-0081 

 

Application of 

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED 

For statement of authorization under 14 CFR 

Part 212 

APPLICATION OF BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED 

Communications with respect to this document should be sent to: 

 Don H. Hainbach 

Garofalo Goerlich Hainbach PC 

1200 New Hampshire Avenue NW 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Phone 202-776-3970 

Fax 202-776-3975 

dhainbach@ggh-airlaw.com 

Counsel for British Airways (BA) Limited 

April 25, 2014 

Notice: The applicant requests expedited treatment of this application. Counsel will poll U.S. 

carrier representatives and inform the Department of the results. 
BEFORE THE 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Application of 

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED 

For exemption authority pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 

§ 40109 (U.S.-Europe) 

Docket DOT-OST-2012-0081 

 

Application of 

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED 

For statement of authorization under 14 CFR 

Part 212 

APPLICATION OF BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) LIMITED 

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 40109 and Part 302 of the Department’s Regulations, British Airways 

(BA) Limited (“BA Limited”) hereby applies for renewal of its exemption authority to engage in: 

i. foreign scheduled and charter air transportation of persons and property from any point or 

points behind any Member State of the European Union via any point or points in any 

Member State and via intermediate points to any point or points in the United States and 

beyond; 

ii. foreign scheduled and charter air transportation of persons and property between any point or 

points in the United States and any point or points in any member of the European Common 

Aviation Area; 

iii. foreign scheduled and charter cargo air transportation between any point or points in the 

United States and any point or points; 

iv. other charters pursuant to the prior approval requirements set forth in Part 212 of the 

Department’s Economic Regulations; and 

v. transportation authorized by any additional route rights made available to European 

Community carriers in the future. 
 2 

BA Limited also requests renewal of its statement of authorization pursuant to section 212 of the 

Department’s regulations authorizing it to operate its two UK-registered A318 aircraft pursuant to a wetlease agreement with British Airways Plc. 

 BA Limited further requests an additional statement of authorization under 14 CFR Part 212 to 

the extent necessary to enable it to also display the US* designator code of US Airways, Inc. on flights 

operated by BA Limited to and from the United States. 

 The exemption authority and statement of authorization for which renewal is requested were 

initially granted on June 11, 2012 and are scheduled to terminate on June 11, 2014. BA Limited requests 

that its existing exemption authority and statement of authorization be renewed for an additional two-year 

period. By filing this application BA Limited is relying upon the automatic extension provision of the 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 558(c), as implemented by 14 CFR Part 377, to continue its 

current exemption authority and statement of authorization in effect pending Department action. 

 When BA Limited applied for its initial authority in May 2012, it also requested statements of 

authorization to the extent necessary to enable it to display the IB* and AA* designator codes of Iberia 

Líneas Aéreas de España Sociedad Anónima Operadora (“Iberia”) and American Airlines, Inc. 

(“American”). Those authorizations were granted on June 11, 2012 and May 9, 2013, respectively. 

Following the merger of US Airways Group, Inc. and AMR Corp. on December 9, 2013, US Airways and 

American share the same ultimate corporate parent, American Airlines Group, Inc. and, pursuant to the 

codeshare agreement between American and British Airways, US Airways qualifies as an affiliate of 

American for the purposes of the existing codeshare arrangement. US Airways and American have 

elected to include US Airways in the already-existing codeshare arrangement with British Airways in 

order to ensure a consistent relationship between British Airways and both US Airways and American. 

Accordingly, BA Limited requests an additional statement of authorization to the extent necessary to 
 3 

enable it to display the US* code on the flights it operates to and from the United States pursuant to its 

wet-lease agreement with British Airways.1

 

 When the Department first granted exemption authority to BA Limited, it found that BA Limited 

was operationally and financially qualified to conduct the proposed services, and that it was substantially 

owned and effectively controlled in a manner consistent with the provisions of the U.S.-EU Open Skies 

Agreement. The Department also determined that grant of the requested exemption authority, as well as 

the requested codeshare authorizations, would be consistent with the U.S.-EU Agreement. Those 

determinations remain valid and also apply to the requested authorization to display the US* designator 

code. 

 Accordingly, BA Limited respectfully requests that the Department grant this application (1) for 

renewal of its existing exemption authority, (2) for renewal of its existing statement of authorization to 

operate wet-lease service for British Airways, and (3) for a new statement of authorization to the extent 

necessary to display the US* designator code on flights operated by BA Limited to and from the United 

States. BA Limited further requests that its exemption authority and statement of authorization to operate 

wet-lease service for British Airways be granted for an additional two-year period and that its statement 

of authorization to display the US* code be granted for an indefinite period. 

 Respectfully submitted, 

 Don H. Hainbach 

Counsel for British Airways (BA) Limited 

April 25, 2014

 

1

 US Airways has completed its review of the Codeshare Safety Audit of BA Limited conducted by 

American and the results of its review were submitted to the FAA on March 31, 2014. 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

 I certify on this 25th day of April, 2014 a copy of the foregoing Application for Exemption 

Authority has been served by electronic mail on the parties named below. 

 __________________________________ 

 Vanessa C. Krasniewicz 

robert.wirick@aa.com 

howard.kass@aa.com 

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

sametta.c.barnett@delta.com 

dan.weiss@united.com 

steve.morrissey@united.com 

urskr@state.gov 

cristinasa@state.gov 

john.s.duncan@faa.gov